Politics

Krauthammer: ‘Neoconservative’ is epithet used to disparage Jewish conservatives [VIDEO]

Jeff Poor Media Reporter
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At the National Review Institute Summit in Washington, D.C. on Friday night, Washington Post columnist and Fox News Channel regular Charles Krauthammer disowned the term “neoconservative,” saying it has become little more than an epithet used to disparage Jewish conservatives.

Krauthammer, who has long been considered hawkish on foreign policy matters, made the remarks in an interview with National Review magazine editor Rich Lowry.

“No,” Krauthammer said, when asked whether he identifies as a neoconservative. “It is an epithet. It is nothing more. It once had a meaning, when Irving Kristol and Norman Podhoretz sort of changed their political ideology and made a great case for it in the ‘70s. Today it’s usually meant as a silent synonym for ‘Jewish conservative.’”

“And when it is meant otherwise, I would ask you whenever you hear the word [to] challenge the person to describe and explain to you what a neocon is. And I guarantee you they will have no answer. So it used to mean someone who was once a liberal, as in the ‘70s, and became more conservative and made the case for the change. Thirty years later, I don’t think it has [any] meaning at all, except for a pejorative one.”

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